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Monday, 7 November 2011

Non bike related: A bit of history

This is a small, non bike related, sidestep from what this blog usually is about. Thought you might find it interesting. If history is not your thing, just skip this post ;)

Went to the Grebbeberg today. The Grebbeberg is a hill on the banks of the River Rhine in the center of the Netherlands that was formed in the second to last ice age. The ice pushed earth ahead of itself while expanding to the south and forming a line of hills of which the Grebbeberg is one.

Areal picture with the Grebbeberg on the right

So what makes it special? It's a place oozing with history. From the top of te Grebbeberg you can see the famous church tower of the nearby ancient city of Rhenen (we couldn't today, too foggy). The church is late medieval, but the history of the place goes back much further than that. It is hard to see on the photo, the scale of the thing is MASSIVE and impossible to catch in one photo because of the trees, but you can see an earth wall if you look carefully:

Barely visible in the background: The earth wall that is part of an ancient fortress

That wall is part of a fortress that is estimated to be from 700 - 800 A.D.. But the place goes even further back in time.... Inside the hill flint fragments have been found that once were Neanderthal tools.

In more recent time this hill saw some military action too. At the start of world war two this hill was the most important part of the main defense line: the Hollandse Waterlinie. The hill saw a lot of action, pretty much every tree older than 70 years can testify to that.

Every tree on the mountain that is older than 70 years bears a huge number of battle scars caused by bullets and shell fragments.

But that's all the long gone past. Today the whole area is a great place to be with a magnificent forest

And some great views on the river on which I spend the last year doing research: the River Rhine (it's flooding history to be precise). I will finish the report on these researches this week (one of them has already been submitted for publishing. Just not with my name on it, while it is 100% my research. No further comments needed.). As soon as it's corrected, I will be done with the study. Finished.